Search form

Search form

Next year, Lufthansa will launch premium economy service on its A380s as a way to remain competitive in the market. As of June, the airline had 10 A380 jets, and five more on order. "It's going to be wider, with more seat pitch, and we'll provide additional benefits on board and on the ground," Jens Bischof, who heads sales for the carrier, said about the premium economy offering.

Customers are signing up for Lufthansa's newly created "premium economy" class - which comes with roomier seating and a bigger luggage allowance - in numbers that are better than the airline expected. "We are extremely satisfied with the bookings," Jens Bischof, chief commercial officer of Lufthansa. "The marketing campaign only started last week and when we consider that most of these bookings were done without marketing, then it's good news for us."

The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered all 68 Airbus A380s in operation to undergo inspections for wing cracks. The European watchdog had previously ordered inspections for 20 of the A380s superjumbo jets, but expanded its mandate. "In parallel, we are working with Airbus on a long-term fix that should be ready by the summer," said agency spokesman Dominique Fouda.

Starting in October, Lufthansa passengers will be able to ride a superjumbo Airbus A380 all the way from Frankfurt to Sydney and back. "Our passengers can for the first time fly all the way [between Australia and Germany] on the world's largest aircraft, combining the latest Lufthansa A380 with an A380 code-share flight of our Star Alliance partner SIA," said Kai Peters, Lufthansa's GM for Australia.

When Lufthansa takes delivery of its eighth Airbus A380 in May, the German carrier will begin flying the superjumbo to Miami. Lufthansa already flies A380s into New York and San Francisco, as well as three other global airports.